1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to a data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for a wireless access point. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented method, apparatus, and computer-usable program code for managing location-based services provided via a wireless access point.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless networking technology enables users to access networks, such as the Internet, from wireless hand held computing devices. Wireless hand held computing devices include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cellular telephones.
A wireless access point (WAP) is a device that provides access to a wireless network such as a router. A client device, such as a laptop or a PDA, that wants to access a wireless network, requests access from the wireless access point. The wireless access range is the range within which a wireless access point can provide a client with access to a wireless network.
A wireless access point can provide open access to client devices. Open access provides access to all requesting client devices within the access range of the wireless access point without requiring a user authentication. Frequently, wireless access point owners want to provide open access to persons on their property. For example, coffee shops, hotels, airports, restaurants, and colleges generally have open access points to draw in customers and students.
A wireless transmission travels at one foot per nanosecond. If the wireless transmission duration between two devices is twenty nanoseconds, the devices are determined to be twenty feet apart. Commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/612,820 provides a mechanism for measuring wireless transmission duration to support security policies.
While great strides have been made in the area of wireless access points, problems still exist, particularly in the application of wireless access points to location-based services (LBS).